Rotary internal-combustion engine.



W. O. KUHN.

ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED' MAY 14. 1917.

PatentedJuly 23, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

W. 0. KUHN.

ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY [4. H.

Um Patented July 23, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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To all whom itmay' concern:

Be it known that T, Wntnran l). Kenn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Internal- Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to internal combustion engines of the rotary type, and while peculiarly adapted for explosive engines, features of the invention may advantageously be utilized in steam engines.

The object of my invention'is to provide an engine of this class which will be of simple and economical construction and which will be efficient in operation.

The invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed. I

In the'accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of an engine embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a similar view with one of the casing members removed and parts shown in section. v v

Fig. 3 is a view partly in front elevation and partly in section, said section being taken substantially through 3-3 of Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. l is a section through l4= of Fig. 2.

The reference numeral 5 designates the engine shaft journaled in bearing boxes 6 which are integrally connected by standards 7 with twin casing members 8, 8 These casing members are of annular shapes and are recessed at 9, Figs. 3 and l, to receive the circumferential elements 10, 10 which constitute with the rib elements what will be hereinafter designated as the rotor members. Said flange elements are formed within the casing with cylindrical outer and inner peripheral surfaces while the protruding portions are cylindrical except as to recesses A l3 and' C in the outer periphery and an inwardly directed protuberance D from the inner periphery.

Said rib elements and the casing members are machined to mutually adord an annular chamber 12 of circular shape in transverse section.

Fixedly mounted on the shaft 5 is a wheel 13 having in its periphery a plurality of teeth 14 (Fig. 2) each of which is formed with a face 15 which inclines from its root outwardly in the direction of .the wheels rotation to the point of the tooth thereinfront, so as to adord'substantially triangular shaped serrations to accommodate two series of roller. elements 16, 16 upon which the aforesaid rotor members are mounted. 17 represents a spacing ring interposed between the two series of rollers to prevent anplnterferenee.

ittmg within the chamber 12 and secured to the respective rotor members, as by bolts 18 are pistons 19, 19 llllovable radiall of the engine axis are two cylindrical p wagers 20, 21 having at their respective inner ends projections 20 21 whichserve as stops for regulating the positions of the pistons at certain stages of their operations. The plunger 20 is provided at its outer end with ears 20 whereby it is connected through the medium of a pivotal pin 22 with the arms 23 and 2a of two longitudinally arranged levers which are fulcrumed by pins 25 to lugs'26 provided on the respective casing members 8, 8 The other arms 27 and 28 of said levers are connected to rods 29 extending radially of the engine through spaced guides 30, 30

provided on said casing members, and carry at their inner ends rollers 3l which track on the flange elements 11., ll of the respeetive rotor members. The plunger 21 is, in like manner, provided with ears 21 connected by a pin 22 with levers such as 23 tlli and 24 to rods, as 29 extending through guides 30 30 and equipped with rollers 81. which track on the respective flange elements 11, 11

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Helical springs 32 are provided between I the guides 30, 30 and collars 33 of the respective rods to yieldingly retain the associated rollers 31 and 31 against the outer peripheral surfaces of said flange elements, and also serve when the recesses A, B and C are successively presented, to eflect movements to the plungers for the purpose of withdrawing the stop projections 20 and 21 thereof from the path of the pistons travel.

34: represents a spark plug extending into the cylinder space E intermediate the two pistons 19, 19 when occupying the positions in which they are represented in Fig. 2.

' 35 represents an electric contact for said spark plug and is desirably in thenature of a lever fulerumed by pin 36 to cars 36 -of the engine casing, said contact lever having an arm 35 engaging in a transverse slot 37 llld of plunger 21 so as to be actuated by the latter when moving outwardly.

38 represents a port for the admission of an explosive mixture supplied to the cylinder through a pipe 39, and 40 is a spring for closing an inlet valve 38 for said port. Located in proximity to the inlet port 38 is a gate 41 movable into and from the engine cylinder 12 in radially disposed guideways provided in the casing members 8, 8 Said gate is provided with a passage 42 whlch, when inthe position shown in Fig.2, communicates by a port 43 with the cylinder at the side of the gate remote from said inlet port, and has a side outlet 44 which communicates with an eduction pipe 45.

A lever 46, fulcrumed at 47 to lugs 48 provided on the casing members, connects the gate 41 with two bars 49, 49 one for each rotor memberand having at their inner ends rollers 50 which track against the inner peripheral surface of the respective flange elements 11, 11 Said bars pass through guide blocks 51 secured to the easing and between such blocks and a set collar 52 of each bar is a helical spring 53 whose office is to yieldingly hold the gate in its operative position, as shown in Fig. 2.

The operation of the invention is as follows:

Assuming the pistons 19, 19 are in the positions in which they are represented in Fig. 2, an explosive charge ignited therebetween will serve to drive the piston 19 and the rotor elements '10, 11 in the direction indicated by arrow 00.

As the piston advances, it forces the combustion charges of the preceding explosion to escape through the gate passage. When the piston 19 reaches about the position denoted by broken lines 19*, the protuberance or cam element D of the moving rotor engages a roller 50 to swerve the associated bar 49 toward the engine axis, thereby influencing the lever 46 to withdraw the gate 41 from the cylinder 12 and thus retain the same until the piston has passed the gate, whereupon the springs 53 assert their power to effect the closing of the gate.

After passing the latter piston 19' compresses a charge admitted through port 38 until the compression is sufficient to overceive the roller 31 at one side, and the roller at the other side is accommodated by the recess G of the other rotor, whose piston is arrested by the stop 21 of plunger 21.

After the referred-to rollers 32 have passed through the respective recesses, the rollers are caused to be moved outwardly upon the outer peripheries of the rotor elements 11, 11 to effect the inward movement of the plunger 20 to introduce the stop 20 thereof to the rear of the rearlnost piston to prevent any retrograde movements thereof from the force due to the next explosion of thegases intermediate the pistons.

From the foregomg it is seen that the two pistons act to accomplish four cycles in each revolution.

One of the pistons is held by the stop 20 and serves as an abutment until urged forward into the position occupied by the active piston when the fluid pressure created by the travel of the latter is capable of overcoming its inertia. The function of the stop 21 is to prevent the forward piston from being advanced until compression is made by the other piston and the charge thus compressed is ignited.

The forward piston is then driven by the direct force of the explosion until it passes the gate 41, whereat its momentum is sufficient to accomplish the remainder of its travel and also afford the power to compress a charge.

The rotors are thus driven alternately; as each one becomes active it is coupled to the wheel 13 to impart rotary motion to the shaft.

The preferred coupling devices comprising rollers 16 or 16 act quickly and positively with no apparent lost motion, and are not only very eflicient for such purpose, but also enable the wheel to rotate with respect to the idle rotor, as upon roller bearings, with a consequent little friction.

What I claim, is

1. In an engine of the class described, a cylinder formed of two non-rotatable members and two independently rotatable members, a piston carried by each of the rotatable members within the cylinder, inlet and exhaust openings provided for said cylinder, a gate interposed between said openings, movable stops provided in the cylinder, ignition devices, a shaft, a wheel mounted thereon, and means provided to engage the wheel by each of said rotors when the latter is driven in one rotary direction.

2. In an engine of the class described, a casing and two rotor members formed and combined to afford an annular cylinder, pistons provided on the respective rotor members and operable within said cylinder, radially movable stops provided in spaced relations within the casing, means cooperating with said rotor members for normally retaining said stops in operative positions whereby they are individually coupled for rotary motion, f

3.-][n an engine of the class described, a

shaft, a casing comprising two twin members and having inlet and exhaust openings, apair of rotors having cam flange elements and peripheral rib elements extending therefrom into a space provided between said casing members, said rib elements and said .casing members being formed to each c ntribute a fourth of the peripheral ,wall 0 an annular cylinder, pistons provided in said cylinder and rigidly connected to the respective rotors, a pair of plungers mounted'in the casing for reciproz'sf' tory motion radially of said shaft, stops provided on the vrespective plungers, means actuated by said cam elements for actuating said plungers to successively introduce and withdraw the stops thereof from the cylinder, a gate operable in the cylinder between the inlet and exhaust'openings, means operable by the rotation of said rotor flange elements toefifect the opening of said gate for the passage of the pistons, and operative connections between each of said rotors and the shaft to successively transmit power from each of them to rotate the shaft.

4. In an engine of the class described, a casing having a fuel inlet, apair of rotors constituting with said casing a cylinder and including pistons operable within the cylinan der, a gate operable within the cylinder in proximity to the fuel inlet, means operated by said rotors for withdrawingsaid gate for the passage of the pistons, means to temporarily arrest the pistons in spaced rela- 45 tions, and means for igniting an explosive mixture between the two pistons whereby one of the latter is driven to rotate the respective rotor,

5. In an engine of the class described, ai5o casing having a fuel inlet, a pair of rotors constituting with said casing a cylinder and including pistons operable within the cylin- I der, a gate operable within the cylinder in proximity to the fuel inlet, said gate being 5 provided with an exhaustpassage which opens into the cylinder at its side most remote from said inlet, means operated by said rotors for withdrawing said gatefor the passage of the pistons, means to tem- W porarily arrest the pistons in spaced relations, and means for igniting an explosive mixture between the two pistons whereby one of the latter is driven to rotate the. respective rotor.

Signed at Seattle, Washington, this 3rd day of May, 1917.

WILLIAM O. KlUHhl.

Witnesses:

PIERRE BAnNns, JAY Burns. 

